Lessons from Home

Flitting and fluttering, the butterfly skims the surface of flowers, trees, and bushes. It flies so close that you think you could reach out and touch it; but when you try, it darts away again. Then all of a sudden, it lands. You expect it to fly away suddenly, but instead, it spreads its wings, as if posing for a camera—all of its beauty and wonder on full display.

We can flit and flutter through life like the butterfly—always in motion, always busy, always going somewhere or making the next stop in our hectic daily schedule. But we can “flutter away” more productively and joyfully if ...

We had another “stress test” recently. A plumbing problem upstairs caused water to pour through a downstairs light fixture onto a wood floor that isn’t supposed to get wet. That started six weeks of dust, claustrophobia, and waiting for things to be fixed.

I have fresh evidence that stress can be caused by impatience, uncertainty, and the “gloomies,” and I’m trying to apply the following “Lessons from Home.”

Finding “our place” in life can sometimes be a long process. We want a place that is secure, that is uniquely ours, and that is enjoyable and heartwarming. We want a place from which we can launch out into life’s circumstances and relationships and navigate them well. We want a home base that ...